August Antics!

---

[youtube=Sk3RoTDhf5k][youtube=lFTbA3LRC4w]

I have lived in MHS for over 8 months and have managed to avoid an outing to the infamous “Chalet” up until now. The “Chalet” is MHS’s only nightclub and I am certain that if it had been playing the sounds of Armin Van Buren or trance I would have made an appearance sooner. Definitely not Dome in its prime but it does have kathoeys (ladyboys) so there is one similarity. The Chalet plays Thai music and everyone dances (Thai style) around the seats and tables. It only starts to get busy around 11.30pm, which is past my bed time nowadays (gone are the days when that was the time I was only getting ready to go out!) As assignment due dates were a couple of weeks away I agreed to join Lou and some MHS friends and had a great time. I found myself being pulled up to dance the last few tracks for the night, singing along to Thai words I am sure I was pronouncing incorrectly, alcohol free. I have a few favourite Thai songs, one in particular is called “Man tong thon” by Poithai Malaiporn. It is an absolute classic Thai song (Isaan) about a guy waking up with a hangover and drinking alcohol to cure it. This must be a universal remedy! The other is called “My name is Miss Hien” by Jintara, I have attached them as videos so you can see how catchy they are.

For a few days we had a couple of visitors to our town and after handing in my first uni assessments, Lou and I spent the last weekend of August exploring MHS on our motorbikes. We drove towards Khun Yuam and stopped off at a few places of interest along the way. That night we made another visit to the Chalet but began the night with singing Karaoke at “My Way.” It was very reminiscent of the times I spent living in Japan where karaoke was a weekly event. Lou and I tried to sing a few Thai songs following the words on the screen but we were at a loss when they were only written in Thai script!

The next day I took Lou and P’Yong on the Nam Tok Mae Surin National Park Mae Sakut Nature Trail. The same 7-8km track I went to in February, except this time we were joined by the two puppies that were now fully grown and another companion. We did well on the walk considering it was after a late night and a couple of drinks. As our time living in MHS is nearing a close, we are trying to savour all our free moments. There will definitely be much to be missed here.

---

Photos

Partying at the Chalet
MHS's only nightclub
Jack, Ngim and I

Post office
One of the many pictures of the Queen

My motorbike
If only I could bring it home to Australia

Lou and I
At the viewpoint